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Grandchildren of migrants more likely to get anxiety problems

Stresses seem to stick around for generations

MATHIEU PATTIER/SIPA/REX/Shutterstock

By Jessica Hamzelou

Moving to a new country is a stressful experience, putting migrants at increased risk of anxiety disorders. But they aren’t the only ones who suffer: their children and grandchildren also experience more anxiety and higher rates of suicide than the general population.

This might be down to the discrimination experienced by ethnic minorities, or to chemical markers of stress inherited through the generations.

That’s what Baptiste Pignon at Public Assistance Hospitals of Paris and his colleagues have found after combing through health surveys collected from 38,694 people …